Our Back Pages: Before Estabrook had a dam, it had a beach
Removing the Estabrook Park dam — a process now in motion, after a Milwaukee County judge refused to block the proposed transfer of the land to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District — won't be the first time the landscape has changed in the north side park.
Before it became a park in 1916, the land was the home of a cement company. Within 15 years, Estabrook Park, named after a prominent Milwaukee politician and former member of the County Parks Commission, occupied about 125 acres on the east side of the Milwaukee River, bordered by Capitol Drive, Wilson Drive and Hampton Ave.
In the early 1930s — a few years before the Civilian Conservation Corps started work on the dam — relief workers crafted a beach along the river just south of where the dog park is now in Estabrook. The beach, and the park, became a popular summertime hangout. In the winter, a man-made lagoon near the beach was a popular site for ice-skating.
But decades before advocates for the dam's removal would blame the structure for hindering river cleanup, Estabrook's beach had pollution problems.
In August 1935, the county closed the Estabrook beach for the rest of the summer because of water-quality concerns. In a report filed by George Haeflmaier, field superintendent of the Milwaukee sewer department, the likely source of the pollution was a Shorewood garbage disposal facility. "Another possible source is the private bathing and boating houses on the upper river, most of which were found to be without sanitary facilities, according to Haeflmaier," The Milwaukee Journal reported on Aug. 23, 1935.
Other beaches in county parks along the Milwaukee River, including those in Lincoln and Gordon parks, also closed often in the 1930s and '40s because of pollution.
By the spring of 1946, the river's water quality at Estabrook was so poor that the Park Commission decided the beach would not open at all.
The Journal reported on May 24, 1946, that James L. Ferebee, general manager of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage Commission, told the Park Commission "that industrial dumpage and runoff from streets and gutters caused the pollution."
On June 4 of that year, the County Board asked the county corporation counsel to investigate the county's powers to determine where the pollution was coming from. The Journal reported on June 5 that some on the board felt it was long overdue.
"The measure drew a tirade against the Parks Commission by (County Supervisor Eugene) Warnimont, who declared that the board 'three months ago directed the park board to study pollution in all streams of the county and has received no action.
" 'It's about time the park board starting taking care of the parks instead of a lot of other things.' "
On Nov. 10, 1946, The Journal reported that industrial oil and waste, and a lack of a system for disposing of it, was one of the primary culprits behind the pollution on the beaches along the Milwaukee River.
While there was talk of finding solutions to the problem, by the early 1950s, the river park beaches, including the one at Estabrook, were gone for good.
The Friends of Estabrook Park's history of the park (friendsofestabrook.com) was an invaluable resource in writing this story.
ABOUT THIS FEATURE
Each Wednesday, Our Back Pages dips into the Journal Sentinel archives, sharing photos and stories from the past that connect, reflect and sometimes contradict the Milwaukee we know today.
Special thanks and kudos go to senior multimedia designer Bill Schulz for finding many of the gems in the Journal Sentinel photo archives.